Two Paths
by Noxen
Summary: I present to you two paths in time diverging on a Monday and a choice. Your choice. One of the paths is correct, which one depends on you. (Various ship combinations)


Path One: Call My Name-

**Monday:** _(1985)_

Claire is the first, and even she's surprised by herself as she waits by the school doors for everyone to arrive. The redhead is nervous as she stands in the chilled air.

The nerves settle slightly, but not completely, when Andrew arrives with a smile and a wave and stands next to her. Talk is minimal and casual at best, to see if the others will show.

Brian is next, glad his confidence was well placed as he walks up the stairs.

Allison doesn't know what to expect. Nobody minds the black gunk is back around her eyes, and Andrew can't help but find her squeak cute as he takes her hand.

John shows last, of course. He stops at the bottom of the stairs and looks at them, everyone silent to see if the last piece will click into place. He shrugs.

"Morning Dweebs."

It's as simple as that.

Eyes follow them as the walk together into the school, but they don't care.

Together they're unbreakable.

_(1986)_

It seems right to end where they started, and so they find themselves in the library once more. This time in graduation robes. They had all decided to wait to talk about where they'd go until the last minute, trying so hard to keep from influencing each other.

"I was accepted to Harvard, but I think the School of Mines might have more of what I'm wanting…." It's no surprise to anyone that Brian is valedictorian.

"Colorado, Man? Braver than I am!" Andrew jokes, but he's proud none the less "I've been offered a full ride over at ISU and I think I'll go for it."

"Which sport finally did it for you?" Allison asks. They found each other to be better friends than lovers, but ending it didn't hurt them any.

"Wrestling." He admits with a laugh "What about you?"

"Art school, of course. Maybe San Francisco." She says with a shrug, looks expectantly over to Claire.

"My father offered to pay wherever I chose…" she admits sheepishly and they all roll their eyes with a laugh. Her parents have been trying to buy her off since the divorce finalized, even if she had ended up living with her brother in the end. "And I have to admit I haven't quite chosen. Maybe Pratt? Parsons' always an option."

Brian raises an eyebrow in question. "Which means you're going for what?"

"I was thinking fashion design… In New York."

Murmurs of approval and interest sound from them all. Well, almost. As the murmurs quiet down their eyes all fall on to the last silent member of their party.

John Bender, who barely graduates thanks to Brian's tutoring.

"Well, John?"

"Yeah Bender, going to tell us?

He keeps the suspense for a moment longer, looking about the library and remembering that long ago Saturday.

"Well…" he starts, reveling in their rapt attention "Looks like I'll be shipping out next month."

The shock is palatable.

"Shipping out, you mean?"

"Oh John, you aren't!"

"Didn't think they'd let someone with your record into the military."

He shrugs. "I got a glowing recommendation from Vernon."

"You're kidding?"

"On my life!"

It's Claire who says it though, what they're all thinking but afraid to voice.

"So I guess this is the last time we're all together then."

Saying the words brings them power, makes the truth real. The reality of it numbs them, and Brian is the one that brings them together in a group hug.

"Come on guys, time to take the stage!"

_(1987-1990)_

Claire loves New York! It's fresh and new and she can be anyone here, not just the popular girl she was back home. On the other hand though, she finds out quickly that Shermer was more than a step behind New York when it comes to fashion.

"You've got this, okay?" Allison assures her one night over the phone as they both work on late night projects. She ends up taking a B on the project, but her teacher is impressed by her divergence into Goth couture instead of her usual work.

Everyone warns Brian that physics is the hardest major to pursue; he wouldn't be the first freshman to crack under the pressure.

He spends the first year trying so hard to stick to the subject, but soon enough he finds himself becoming more and more interested in mechanical engineering. And not just because of Jack Donovan, the dark haired English transfer.

"What if I am though?" Brian asks Andrew one winter break afternoon.

The blond shrugs, "Does it matter if you are?"

Brian isn't sure.

"It'll never matter to us." Andrew promises, knowing the rest of the group would agree if only they were there.

Allison explores herself when she's at college. She's still the quiet one, preferring to observe, but she doesn't mind so much when her dorm mate Cassandra drags her out to the Warf in the cool mornings to draw the people that mill about.

She minds even less when one drunken night after final projects are turned in Cassandra drags down Allison's black comforter and joins her in bed.

It's strange how sure she is that she doesn't enjoy men any less even as the curvy blond tastes her bare skin, she just also happens to enjoy women.

John Bender tells no one when he's discharged early from boot camp.

Medical discharge for a slowly detaching retina, the words sting slightly more when they explain he'll probably go completely blind in his left eye.

He's put on a bus back to Shermer, but John doesn't hesitate a moment in change his destination ticket.

Maybe it's time to travel a bit.

Andrew Clark is on top of the world!

They're saying he might break a state record for consecutive wins soon! He gets a letter from Allison that glows with pride, says she knew there was a reason she kept his letterman patch. He's going to be big!

He's met a great girl, a leggy brunette that Claire approves of when he brings her back to Shermer over Easter break.

The only thing he doesn't have going for him is a major.

"Maybe coaching?" Claire suggests, even as she's busy working on her latest fashion project.

Andy laughs her off; coaching is for those who can't play!

Brian comes out to his parents and it goes just about as well as he expects, after all it wasn't part of the plan.

When his dad disowns him the group rallies around him.

He gets a letter from John, a long ranting thing that says where his parents can shove their opinions.

Andy visits over break, acting the part of a protective big brother when he meets Jack.

Claire's mother conveniently buys a nice place that just happens to be right next to the campus that she insists he do her the favor of watching over.

But it's a call from Allison, where she shares the truth of her own sexual explorations that remind him he's a normal human being.

Allison finds herself drawn to sculpture, and even better finds she has a talent for it.

"How would you like to put some pieces in a private gallery showing a friend of mine is holding?" Her instructor offers after class one day.

Claire enjoys fashion design! She does! So why is she so unhappy?

"Maybe you just need to take a break?" Brian suggests during one of their weekly calls "Come visit, you should see the view from your mother's house anyways."

She packs her bags that night and heads out.

The weeklong trip is just what she needed! But Claire won't be going back to fashion design.

It was about time she take the next step and tries business anyway.

John travels steadily westward, hitching rides and getting work where he can. There's something freeing about waking up in a different town every other day. Waking up beside a new girl.

But all too soon the road gets stale and John Bender starts to crave steady work.

Three weeks later he finds himself paying the deposit on a small apartment in San Diego. He's not quite sure how he'll keep up with the payments but luckily his new land lord's brother just happens to have an opening in his auto shop.

Nobody expected his knee to blow out, especially not Andy.

In the blink of an eye he loses his full-ride and his girl; apparently she just can't handle the pressure.

What will he do now?

Maybe coaching isn't such a bad idea.

_(1993)_

Allison finds herself confused as she watches John Bender work on her car while she wears a pink taffeta monstrosity. This isn't how she imagined her sabbatical from the art world. She's supposed to be a bridesmaid in Cassandra's wedding tomorrow, but a cracked axel says she isn't going to make it. Maybe she'll send the dress to Claire as a joke so it gets some use.

"Didn't think San Diego Motors was a normal military station." She says as she continues to watch him.

"Didn't think I'd ever see you wear something more ridiculous than your prom dress." He shoots back as he slides out from under the car.

They have a lot to catch up on.

Andrew fidgets nervously with his tie as he gets ready for his interview. He never expected to be applying for an elementary school physical education instructor position, but he also didn't expect for them to be the only place to contact him back.

His name is called and his left knee gives a familiar twinge as he stands up from the uncomfortable plastic chair.

He's got this.

Hong Kong to Colorado isn't the best commute, but Brian is lucky to be hired on as an assistant engineer at Honeywell so fresh out of school.

"Allison called the other day; she wants to know if we'll visit her in San Diego." Jack greets as he picks him up from the airport one late evening. Brian barely hears the message, so glad to see the dark haired man he's fallen so in love with over the years.

He drops his bag to the ground and wraps his arms around the other man.

"God I've missed you."

Claire smiles as Marcus picks her up from her apartment for their date. He's sweet, though a little bit older than her. She doesn't mind though, it's nice to meet a man that isn't intimidated by a successful female business owner.

"You look lovely tonight." He tells her and kisses her hand. She can't help it when he cheeks tinge the same color as her lovely red locks, Claire might just be in love.

_(1997)_

"Do you want to have kids?" Jack asks one day as they cuddle up on the couch, stunning Brian into wide eyed silence. He looks around the small house they live in, which Claire gave them the deed to as an anniversary present last year.

It's small, but he's amazed at how easy it is to imagine a child running through its halls.

"Okay." He says with a smile, let's be parents.

Allison's sabbatical from the professional art world is looking more and more like a retirement. She finds herself contently teaching sculpture and ceramic classes at the San Diego City College, first on a volunteer basis and then as a staff member.

Not that she isn't still sculpting on her own. Though recently she's found herself enjoying mobiles more so than traditional sculpture.

She also curiously realizes one day that she's cohabitating, and a bit more, with John Bender.

Andy tweets whistle around his neck as soccer practice comes to a close.

"Alright guys! Good hustle!" he cheers to his pint sized team as they exit the field. As usual, the small bespectacled and asthmatic boy named Darwin is the last to leave. Small as he may be, Darwin is a natural goalie.

As Andy watches the kids gather their equipment together he's approached by Darwin's mother, Alicia.

"Coach Clark, I was wondering if we could get together some time to talk."

Andy smiles and responds with ease, he always has time to talk with the parents of his kids.

"I was thinking maybe dinner?" she adds.

Oh!

John Bender doesn't know what to think of the creature that is Allison Reynolds.

She lives in his apartment. Has taken over one of the rooms as her personal studio. Is regularly in his bed, more regularly than her own in fact. And continually steals his shirts for her own.

More confusing, she does all these things and doesn't act at all like the women he usually know to act in a relationship. This leads him to standing in the kitchen watching her mix paints at the sink.

"Are we in a relationship?" he blurts out.

"Are you asking?" she responds without pausing.

"Yes."

"Mhm."

John Bender pauses, "Wait did you think I was asking you to be in a relationship or if we were already in one?"

"Mhm." She responds and starts back towards the studio room.

"Is that 'mhm' we're in one or 'mhm' I'll be in a relationship with you?" He calls after her.

"Mhm." Comes back the reply.

"Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?"

Allison looks out the crack of her studio door.

"Yes." She tells him with a smile, and John Bender is more confused than ever.

-Marcus doesn't last, and Claire is strangely okay with that.

Not at first, of course. At first she cries and binges on ice cream and watches her favorite movies…

But quickly Claire realizes she's doing it because it's what's expected of her, not because she's really all that bothered. Marcus was nice, even to the end, but nice isn't what Claire wants.

In fact, Claire isn't sure what she wants.

So, she takes a break from dating. Buys a plant.

_(2002)_

Allison once more finds herself in a bridesmaid dress, but this time Claire is standing beside her in the same dress (which is thankfully much classier than pink taffeta) and Brian and John stand across from them.

Andy is the perfect picture of a joyfully nervous groom, and his friends couldn't be happier for him.

It is a simple but sweet service, followed by a joyful reception where the new Clark family stands beaming together.

John and Brian takes turns giving toasts, Brian's full of memories and John's borderline crass.

It's exactly perfect.

_(2009)_

One plant had lead to two, then three, and now Claire finds herself maintaining a small indoor garden.

Growing things, running a thriving business. It was rather accomplished feeling.

And best of all, Claire had done it all by herself without a man in her life.

It was nice.

Allison turns 40 with grace and silence. She neither expects nor wants a party, though she is more than happy to accept her friends well wishing over the phone.

Mid-afternoon, not long after John calls to say he'll be late at the shop, she goes for a walk and finds herself in an animal shelter.

She and John have talked about kids, and came to a quick and easy agreement to not have any.

But maybe, a cat wouldn't be so bad.

Allison chooses a ginger tom named Casanova and takes him home that day, a gift to herself for a well-lived life.

Brian and Jack know Mia is going to be part of their family from the moment they see her. Ten years old, all limbs and braces and hair, the young dark skinned girl sits drawing a robot as she waits for the interview to start.

"I build robots for a living." Brian starts, and grins when she looks at them amazed.

She's perfect, no matter what they say, and she's going to be theirs.

John's boss retires, deciding to give Alaska a try. He leaves his shop in the capable hands of John Bender.

It's a life John never would have imagined for himself, living with a beautiful woman and owning a business. But it's a life he's glad he has.

He comes home late one night to find Allison lying on their sofa with a ball of orange fur curled up on her stomach.

"Meet Casanova." She tells him.

Andy loves Darwin like a son, but he still celebrates every moment that he and Alicia have to themselves.

Especially moments curled up on the couch with her in his arms.

"Darwin's in middle school now." She tells him during a commercial break.

Yes, of course. Andy realizes their son is growing and progressing in school.

"What would you say if I said Darwin needed a sibling?" she asks, turning to see his face.

"I'd say we should get started on making him one." He responds and kisses her neck.

"What if I said we already had?"

(Now)

Brian and Jack are always happy to welcome their friends into their home, and Christmas is always a holiday for gathering together.

To look at them now you'd be amazed to imagine the people they had been so long ago.

Mia is nearly 14, and Brian and Jack have adopted a 2 year old boy named Jagger recently. They eagerly wait for the day their home state of Colorado says they can legally wed.

Claire is her own person, a successful business owner that has long realized she doesn't need someone else to be happy.

Andy and Alicia's daughter is 4 and precocious as can be; Darwin is in high school and seems to be on the path to being top of his class.

Allison and John built a home together, and are happy.

None of them can even imagine a life where they hadn't united that Monday.

..

..

But we can.


End file.
